Tea party celebrates birthday milestone

Alnwick Labour Party held a special tea party, as part of the 70th birthday celebrations for the NHS.

The event was staged on Saturday in Alnwick Town Hall and attracted a strong turn out.

A tombola and cake stall together raised more than £120 for the local NHS Northumbria Trust.

At 1pm, the hall was full as guest speakers from Labour and trade union movement took to the stage to talk about the importance of the NHS, its creation and the future plans to protect and fight for free healthcare services.

Ian Lavery, MP for Wansbeck, and chairman of the Labour Party, was a guest speaker, alongside Terry Johnstone, from UNISON, and Vivienne Dove, of the Royal College of Nursing.

Mr Lavery spoke about Labour’s creation of the NHS and said: “It is the duty of Labour activists and members, like those here in Alnwick and across the Berwick-upon-Tweed constituency, to fight to protect local NHS services.”

Lisa-Marie Kelly, the chairman of Berwick-upon-Tweed Constituency Labour Party, read a poem written by a 12-year-old NHS patient.

Lisa, as well as James Matthewson, chairman of the Alnwick Branch, welcomed and thanked everyone who attended the ‘special, landmark event’.

She added: “It is vitally important that we celebrate the creation of the NHS by the Labour Government 70 years ago and it was fantastic to see so many local people from the Alnwick area coming in and talking about their memories of the NHS.”